{"id":194641,"date":"2021-01-19T01:43:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T01:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=194641"},"modified":"2021-01-19T01:43:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T01:43:44","slug":"free-wordpress-security-scanners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/free-wordpress-security-scanners\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Your WordPress Site Security – 6 Free WordPress Security Scanners"},"content":{"rendered":"

We think our security plugin, Defender, is pretty darn good, but we\u2019d never tell you to put all your eggs in one basket. Even with a super-reliable and robust security plugin, you should still carry out extra checks on your site’s security\u2026<\/p>\n

Gone are the days where the only way to infiltrate someone\u2019s computer or accounts was to send them a virus disguised as a pdf or manually guess their passwords.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, hacking is easy. It\u2019s automated.<\/p>\n

Bots can brute-force their way into a site, create fake administrator accounts, and scan the network for vulnerabilities and valuable files in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

This means that you no longer need a determined enemy in order to be the victim of an attack.<\/p>\n

And since attacks are always on the rise, it makes sense to take whatever precautions are available in order to protect your site and ultimately, your visitors.<\/p>\n

One of these precautions is simply taking the time to check your site from a few different sources.<\/p>\n

Read on as we take a look at some of the best free tools out there.<\/p>\n

1. Defender<\/a>
\n2. WordPress Tools<\/a>
\n3. wpRecon<\/a>
\n4. VirusTotal<\/a>
\n5. Mozilla Observatory<\/a>
\n6. Google Transparency Report<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Defender<\/h2>\n

Hopefully, you\u2019re already using Defender<\/a> to protect your site against malicious attacks, however, did you know it has an awesome scan feature, as well as a comprehensive rundown of things you can do to improve your site security?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the scan.<\/p>\n

To begin a scan, click on Defender\u2019s Malware Scanning option in the WordPress sidebar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
Click Run Scan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Defender will then highlight any files that it thinks are suspicious, such as core files which have been edited or don\u2019t come as standard.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
Defender will check your core files against the originals in the WordPress repository.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ll need to check through the files to decide whether they pose a risk, or whether they are changes you’ve made yourself.<\/p>\n

You then have three options:<\/p>\n